What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 251 Refueling
Off the coast of Algeciras.

On the Southampton, Philger leaned on the railing, gazing at the Mediterranean Sea rippling gently in the sunlight.

"Captain, it will all be over soon. You are a hero."

The ship's psychiatrist, Federico, gently patted his shoulder and comforted him:
"Maybe it was all an illusion. The investigation team hasn't even retrieved a single piece of useful wreckage. You've just been caught up in a conspiracy."

Philger did not answer, but lowered his head further, making it impossible to see his expression under the peaked cap.

Regardless of the true nature of that bizarre battle, without the Colbert, the Southampton would have been a lost soul underwater.

After that battle, fearing bombs or other ambushes in the Suez Canal, the mixed fleet withdrew to the nearest port of Algeria and docked there, only allowing passage after the inspection was completed.

The Southampton is now almost across the Mediterranean Sea and will head north to return home for repairs after passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.

The hole in the bow of HMS Southampton caused by a 100mm shell was repaired in Hof Harbor. Several iron plates were temporarily welded to plug it, which did not affect its performance. Incidentally, the damage control team was put to practical use.

Undoubtedly, as an officer who participated in real close combat, Philger will receive high praise and has a promising future.

But whenever he closed his eyes, he couldn't forget the torn Colbert, or even the figures that flew out of the cruiser.

Is it really a conspiracy? If hundreds of lives are needed to stage a conspiracy, then the motives behind it must be terrifying.

The Genuine Colbert Museum in Bordeaux has remained completely unaffected, and the authorities are still investigating the leak.

Federico knew that Philg was feeling conflicted, so he simply stood with him on the bridge, leaning against the railing and feeling the warmth of the Mediterranean Sea.

A servant rushed over anxiously.

"Captain Philger, there are orders from home."

"Are you going to temporarily relieve me of my duties? I'm really not suited to commanding battles right now."

Philg smiled wryly, but the servant quickly retorted:
"No, the homeland demands that you continue fighting, and it will be an even more arduous battle."

The servant handed him the telegram, and after only a glance, Philg snapped out of his dejected state and straightened his posture considerably.

"I need to speak to the general on the phone!"

……

"This is a massive, lonely, dangerous battle, a fight between the weak and the strong."

The boss on the phone made no attempt to hide anything from Philger, explaining the current situation:
According to the plan, the Dubreuil, which departed from the port of Guyana, was expected to encounter the Second Fleet in Rio de Janeiro 84 hours later, with no friendly forces.

Brazil and Argentina will at most stand by and watch; they'll be lucky if they don't take the opportunity to kick someone when they're down.

If it were air support, even taking the shortest route, a fighter jet carrying anti-ship missiles would need to travel 9000 kilometers from Morocco to land in Guyana immediately after launching the missiles, a distance no fighter jet could manage.

The combined fleet of the three countries had undergone repairs at Hofport and had ample fuel and supplies, making it the second fleet ready for deployment.

Downing Street has reached an emergency agreement that the entire combined fleet may participate in the operation. A task force consisting of one destroyer and three frigates will head south, with two supply ships following behind.

"I accept."

Philger accepted without hesitation:
"This Second Fleet must be connected to warships in the Gulf of Aden. The HMS Southampton will head to the designated area!"

With two supply ships slowly hauling him along, he wasn't worried about running out of fuel, as the journey was only three or four thousand nautical miles one way.

In addition to HMS Southampton, the other ships in the mixed fleet also received the order and began communicating via radio.

The Type 42 has very poor range. Even considering only one-way distance, it would need to sail at least 3000 to 3500 nautical miles after a battle, requiring immediate refueling by a supply ship, approaching the 4000 nautical mile limit. The Sofia's range is similar. The Hanazuki-class can reach a range of 10000 nautical miles, but its top speed is only 20 knots.

So the four warships sailed at a speed of 18 knots, while the two supply ships trailed far behind, 100 nautical miles behind.

After passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, this fleet, which had just experienced fighting less than half a month ago, set off again for a new objective.

……

News of a German fleet emerging in the South Atlantic spread quickly, and soon several pictures appeared, some from the cruise ship Vilia, some from the Falkland Islands, and some clearly taken from an aerial perspective.

The world was initially puzzled as to where the Hans' warships had gone, and then the mere sight of their names sent chills down their spines:

Bismarck, Scharn... what's this?

Aside from the destroyer, which is difficult to identify, the remaining six warships have very obvious features and can be easily identified based on their characteristics.

The first to be in uproar was the Hans themselves. The Hans' navy now consists of a few miscellaneous frigates and other small vessels, totaling only a little over 100,000 tons.

The seven-ship fleet alone weighed over 20 tons, and all of them were large ships built decades ago.

The people of several surrounding countries were outraged, believing that Hans was still up to no good and was secretly rebuilding his fleet, with the tonnage of the fleet he was maintaining abroad even exceeding that of the one at home.

Hans himself was even more confused. The unknown force that called itself the "Second Fleet" was using German warships, and not small ships, but large warships that could be considered the main force.

These warship blueprints are complex and involve a huge amount of engineering work. Not to mention outsiders, even they themselves did not preserve the original data, making reconstruction extremely difficult.

Who built this ship for me?
The local mouthpiece newspaper immediately issued a statement: It has nothing to do with me, it wasn't me, it really wasn't me!

At the same time, they also thought of the recent Gulf of Aden incident investigation team and directly submitted a request to the investigation team to organize forces to intercept and investigate, and find out who these plagiarists were impersonating them.

This suited the other forces perfectly, and Old Mi was the first to announce that as a member of the investigation team, he had an inescapable obligation to conduct the investigation.

A B-52 is already undergoing preparations in Florida and is expected to take off in the early morning of the 27th, fly approximately 9000 kilometers to reconnoiter the Second Fleet, and then return to Guyana to land.

总计耗时13到15个小时，预计飞行13000至14500公里，也仅有航程达到16000公里的B52才能完成从本土直飞侦查的重任。

Meanwhile, there are also rumors that a special version of the B52G capable of carrying Harpoon anti-ship missiles is being urgently deployed to Florida in preparation for any emergency.

The only problem with the Second Fleet right now is that it is firing air-to-air missiles over the Falkland Islands, which is far from meeting the standard for direct conflict. We can only monitor it closely for now.

……

LV2 Shipyard.

"It still has to be the internet age."

The Algeria is now complete and can be used as a transmission point, allowing Tang Wen to directly flash back to the shipyard.

Thanks to television and internet media, they were fully aware of all the movements of the Second Fleet.

But seeing a fleet of only two destroyers and three frigates, Tang Wen was somewhat unhappy. It was supposed to be a main fleet of 200,000 tons, and this was really too careless.

We need to go faster.

He used a satellite phone to call Chen Yonggui:
"Uncle, when you have time, replenish the oil depots at the port, give me another 10,000 tons!"

(End of this chapter)